Our Tutors

Carrie Tiffany

Carrie Tiffany was born in West Yorkshire and grew up in Western Australia. She spent her early twenties working as a park ranger in Central Australia and now lives in Melbourne and New Zealand where she works as a writer and agricultural journalist. Carrie has published two award-winning novels: ‘Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living’ and ‘Mateship with Birds’.

Claire G Coleman

Claire is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral country is in the South Coast of Western Australia. Her debut novel ‘Terra Nullius’, written while travelling in a caravan, won a Black&Write! Fellowship, has been shortlisted for the Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award, and won the Norma K. Hemming Award. She also writes essays, poetry and short fiction.

Jan Wositzky

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is a renowned storyteller, musician and writer, whose first gig, in 1971, was as a founder of the now famous Bushwackers Band. His credits post-Bushwackers include performing his solo show ‘Canakkale Gallipoli’ before the Dawn Service at Gallipoli; the runaway best-selling biography of Tommy Woodcock, ‘Me & Phar Lap’; the 2014 National Folk Fellowship for his acclaimed storytelling masterpiece ‘Bilarni’; the Victorian History...

Kate Mildenhall

Kate Mildenhallis a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, ‘Skylarking’ (Black Inc., 2016) was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, with her young family and is currently working on her second novel. Kate co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.

Katherine Collette

Katherine Collette’s first novel ‘The Helpline’ comes out with Text Publishing in September 2018. Katherine had been awarded a retreat fellowship at Varuna, the Writers House and was part of the ACT Writers Centre’s 2016 Hardcopy program. Katherine works as an engineer and lives in the northern suburbs of Melbourne with her partner and their two kids. Katherine co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.

Lee Kofman

Lee Kofman is an author of four books, including the memoir 'The Dangerous Bride' (Melbourne University Press), and co-editor of 'Rebellious Daughters' (Ventura Press), an anthology of personal essays by prominent Australian memoirists. Her short works have been widely published in Australia, UK, Scotland, Israel, Canada and US, including in Best Australian Essays. Her blog was a finalist for Best Australian Blogs 2014. Her next creative non-...

Lucy Treloar

Lucy Treloar is a writer, editor, and creative writing teacher. Her short fiction has appeared in ‘Sleepers’, ‘Overland’, ‘Seizure’, and ‘Best Australian Stories’ and her non-fiction in a range of publications. Her novel ‘Salt Creek’ was published in 2015. Lucy’s awards include the 2016 Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction and the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Pacific region. ‘Salt Creek’ is shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, and shortlisted for the...

Mary Borsellino

Mary Borsellino has published work with a variety of micropress publishers in Australia and internationally. Her first foray into professional fiction writing was self-publishing a lurid YA novel at eighteen to supplement her babysitting income. Since then she’s. Her mother asked her to use a pseudonym for romance novels, so sometimes Mary’s known as Julia Leijon. Her heart still lies in YA, though, where her novels have inspired cosplay, tattoos and some incredible fan...

Paul McVeigh

Paul McVeigh’s short fiction has been published in journals and anthologies and been commissioned by BBC Radio 4. He has read his work for BBC Radio and at many international festivals. His award-winning debut novel ‘The Good Son’ was published by Salt Publishing in 2015. Paul is Director of the London Short Story Festival and Associate Director at Word Factory, the UK’s national organisation for excellence in the short story. He is also a judge for...

Sonia Marcon

Sonia Marcon is the chick with the stick. She has been working as an actor, writer, singer, producer and director for nearly twenty years. Since 2015 Sonia has performed in Quippings: Disabiity Unleashed events to deliver self-devised performances exploring the challenges and changes of disabled life with humour and pointed commentary. Sonia is one of the 2017 recipients of the Writers Victoria Write-ability Fellowship. Her works have been published with ‘ABC Open’, ‘...

Sonia Marcon

Sonia Marcon is the chick with the stick. She has been working as an actor, writer, singer, producer and director for nearly twenty years. Since 2015 Sonia has performed in Quippings: Disabiity Unleashed events to deliver self-devised performances exploring the challenges and changes of disabled life with humour and pointed commentary. Sonia is one of the 2017 recipients of the Writers Victoria Write-ability Fellowship. Her works have been published with ‘ABC Open’, ‘...

Alice Pung

Alice Pungis the award-winning Melbourne author of ‘Unpolished Gem’, ‘Her Father’s Daughter’ and ‘Growing Up Asian in Australia’. Her work has been published in ‘The Age’, ‘The Monthly’, ‘Good Weekend’ and ‘The Australian’.

Annabel Smith

Annabel Smith is the author of digital interactive novel/app ‘The Ark’, US bestseller ‘Whisky Charlie Foxtrot’, and ‘A New Map of the Universe’, which was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards. Her short fiction and essays have been published in ‘Southerly’, ‘Westerly’, ‘Kill Your Darlings’ and the ‘Review of Australian Fiction’. She has a PhD in creative writing and teaches creative writing at the Australian Writers Centre.

Arnold Zable

Arnold Zable is an acclaimed Australian writer, novelist, storyteller, and human rights advocate. His books include ‘Jewels and Ashes’, ‘The Fig Tree’, ‘Café Scheherazade’, ‘Scraps of Heaven’, ‘Sea of Many Returns’, ‘Violin Lessons’, and most recently, ‘The Fighter’. He is the author of numerous essays, columns, stories, features and...

Catherine Noske

Catherine Noskeis a lecturer in creative writing and editor of ‘Westerly Magazine’ at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on contemporary Australian writing of place. Her creative work has been awarded the Elyne Mitchell Prize for Rural Women Writers (2008 and 2009), received a Varuna fellowship in 2014 and was shortlisted for the 2015 Dorothy Hewett Award. She is currently working on a poetry...

Ellen van Neerven

Ellen van Neervenis a Mununjali person from the Yugambeh language group of South East Queensland. Her first book ‘Heat and Light’ (UQP, 2014), a collection of interlinked short stories, won several awards including the NSW Premiers Literary Award for Indigenous Writing. ‘Comfort Food’ (UQP, 2016), a collection of poems, is her most recent release. Until 2016 Ellen was the Managing Editor of 'black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project...

Gabriella Muñoz

Gabriella Muñozis a Mexican-Australian writer and editor. She has published feature articles and essays in English and Spanish on a wide variety of topics ranging from film and the music industry, to celebrity culture and women’s health. Her literary work focuses on motherhood, exile and the mysteries of blood and origin. She is a Digital Writer in Residence at Writers Victoria.

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzkyis a renowned storyteller, musician and writer, whose first gig, in 1971, was as a founder of the now famous Bushwackers Band. His credits post-Bushwackers include performing his solo show ‘Canakkale Gallipoli’ before the Dawn Service at Gallipoli; the runaway best-selling biography of Tommy Woodcock, ‘Me & Phar Lap’; the 2014 National Folk Fellowship for his acclaimed storytelling masterpiece ‘Bilarni’; the...

Jane Hirshfield

Jane Hirshfieldis the author of eight much-honoured books of poetry, most recently ‘The Beauty’, long-listed for the National Book Award, as well as two now-classic books of essays, ‘Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry’ and ‘Ten Windows’. A chancellor-emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Hirshfield has been visiting professor at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and elsewhere.

Julia Prendergast

Julia Prendergast’sshort stories have been acknowledged in many forums including the Lightship Anthology International Short Story Competition (UK), Ink Tears International Short Story Competition (UK) Glimmer Train International Short Story Competition (US), Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley Prize and Josephine Ulrick Prize. Julia has a PhD in Writing and Literature, and is a lecturer in Writing and Literature at Swinburne University in Melbourne...

Laurel Cohn

Laurel Cohn is a book editor, passionate about communication and the power of stories in our lives. Since the 1980s, as a developmental editor, she has been helping writers prepare their work for publication. She also works with publishers, businesses and community organisations, and is a popular workshop presenter. Laurel has a PhD in literary and cultural studies and publishes in the academic world.

Lia Hills

Lia Hillsis a Melbourne-based novelist, poet and translator. Publications include her novel ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Living’, shortlisted for the Victorian, Queensland and West Australian Premier’s Literary Awards, and her prize-winning poetry collection ‘The Possibility of Flight’. She has written about and translated works by Marie Darrieussecq and Alain Badiou. Lia’s latest novel, ‘The Crying Place’, set mostly in Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara...

Lyndel Caffrey

Lyndel Caffreyis a writer, mentor and creative writing teacher. She works with writers to help them build a deeper understanding of the story they have to tell, and how to tell it. Lyndel’s novella ‘Glad’ was published in ‘Griffith Review 38’, and her literary fiction manuscript ‘Gunclub’ was shortlisted for the inaugural Hachette Australian Richell Prize in 2015.

Lynne Kelly

Dr Lynne Kellyis the author of 17 books including one novel and various education titles. Currently an Honorary Research Associate at LaTrobe University, her PhD was published by Cambridge University Press. She has four popular science titles with Allen & Unwin, the most recent being ‘The Memory...

Misbah Khokhar

Misbah Khokhar runs her own creative writing workshops through her company Witch and Wolf and her first book is ‘Rooftops in Karachi’ out through Vagabond Press. She holds post-graduate qualifications in creative writing, editing and publishing. She has performed and continues to perform her work in many festivals and events, and is published extensively through ‘Australian Poetry Journal’, ‘Cordite’, ‘Peril’, ‘Mascara Lit Review’ and ABC radio's ‘Poetica’.

Nick Gadd

Nick Gaddis the author of ‘Ghostlines’ (Scribe, 2008), which won a Victorian Premiers Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript in 2007 and a Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel. He has written non-fiction about signwriting and psychogeography for ‘Meanjin’, ‘Kill Your Darlings’, ‘Griffith Review’ and ‘The Guardian’. Nick was the 2015 winner of the Nature Conservancy Australia Nature Writing Prize and was shortlisted in the essay category of the...

Rafeif Ismail

Rafeif Ismail, athird culture youth of the Sudanese diaspora, is an emerging writer who aims to explore the themes of home, belonging and Australian identity in the 21st century. Her current project aims to recreate the folktales of her childhood in English. She is committed to writing diverse characters and stories.

Roanna Gonsalves

Roanna Gonsalvesis the author of ‘The Permanent Resident’, winner ofthe NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Multicultural Prize 2018, and longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award 2018. It is on several lists of must-read books, and on the syllabi of university courses. Roanna is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award, is co-founder co-editor of ‘...

Bella Li

Bella Li is the author of 'Argosy' (Vagabond Press, 2017), which won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry and the 2018 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Poetry. Her work has been published in a range of journals and anthologies, including ‘Best Australian Poems’ and ‘The Kenyon Review’, and was displayed in the inaugural Triennial of the NGV. Her most recent book is ‘Lost Lake’ (Vagabond Press, 2018).

Photo credit: Lisa Businovski

Robert Gott

Robert Gottis the author of more than 90 works of non-fiction for children and seven adult crime novels, two of which have been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. He is also the creator of the long-running cartoon in ‘The Age’ newspaper, ‘The Adventures of Naked Man’.

Ellie Marney

Ellie Marney is a teacher and YA author of the Every series, contributor to 'Begin End Begin', a #LoveOzYA advocate, and a Stella Ambassador. Her first independent title, 'No Limits', made No1 in Amazon category bestseller lists on its first day of release. Find out more at www.elliemarney.com(link is external).

Anna Krien

Anna Krienis the author of ‘Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport’, ‘Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests’, ‘Booze Territory’, ‘Quarterly Essay 45 Us and Them: On the Importance of Animals’ and ‘Quarterly Essay 67 The Long Goodbye: Coal, Coral and Australia’s Climate Deadlock’. Her work has been published in ‘The Monthly’, ‘The Age’, ‘The Big Issue’, ‘Best Australian Essays’, ‘Best Australian Stories’, ‘Griffith Review’ and ‘...

Angela Savage

Angela Savageis a Melbourne writer and Director of Writers Victoria. She has lived and travelled extensively in Asia, and her first novel, ‘Behind the Night Bazaar’, won the 2004 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript.

Cate Kennedy

Cate Kennedy is the author of three poetry collections, a novel, a memoir and two collections of short stories. Her work has been published internationally and her story collections are both on the Victorian School Literature syllabus. She is the recipient of several awards for her work including the Queensland Literary Prize for her collection ‘Like a House on Fire’, the NSW Premier’s People’s Choice Award for her novel ‘The World...

Eli Glasman

Eli Glasmanis a Melbourne-based author. His debut novel, ‘The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew’ (Sleepers Publishing), concerns a homosexual boy in the Melbourne orthodox Jewish community. His short fiction has appeared in magazines across Australia.

Eliza Henry-Jones

Eliza Henry-Jonesis a Melbourne-based writer. Her debut novel ‘In the Quiet’ was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and longlisted for the ABIA and Indie Book Awards. She has qualifications in grief, loss and trauma counseling and psychology, and has completed a thesis exploring bushfire trauma. Her work has also appeared in ‘Daily Life’, ‘Southerly’, ‘Island’, ‘Seizure’, ‘LiNQ’...

George Ivanoff

George Ivanoffis a Melbourne children’s author with more than 100 titles under his belt. Although best known for his ‘You Choose’ and ‘Other Worlds’ book series, he has written extensively for the education market. He’s won a few awards, including a YABBA, and has books on the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists.

Hazel Edwards

Hazel Edwardswrites quirky, thought-provoking fiction and fact for adults and children, across varied media. Known for ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake’ and ‘Authorpreneurship’, Hazel’s 200 books have been translated into 10 languages.

Jax Jacki Brown

Jax Jacki Brownis a disability and LGBTI consultant, writer, spoken-word performer, public speaker, disability sexuality educator and workshop designer and facilitator. Her written work has been published on websites such as ‘Junkee’, ‘Daily Life’, ‘The Feminist Observer’, ‘Writers Victoria’, ‘ABC’s Ramp Up’ and in print for ‘Archer Magazine: The Australian Journal for Sexual Diversity’, ‘Queer Disability Anthology (2015)’ and...

Jessica Walton

Jessica Walton is a 2017 Write-ability Fellow, picture book author, teacher, parent, daughter of a trans parent and proud queer disabled woman. She wrote 'Introducing Teddy: a story about being yourself' to help explain gender identity in a simple, positive way to her kids. 'Introducing Teddy' is published in the US, UK and in Australia by Bloomsbury.

Laura Jean McKay

Laura Jean McKayis the author of ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ (2013), shortlisted for three national book awards in Australia, including the Asher Award in 2015. Her work has appeared in ‘The Best Australian Stories’, 'Award-Winning Australian Writing' and 'The North American Review' and she won the Alan Marshall Short Story Award in 2011. Laura is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.

Laurie Steed

Laurie Steedis the author of ‘You Belong Here’, published March 2018. His short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and has appeared in ‘Best Australian Stories’, ‘Award Winning Australian Writing’, ‘The Age’, ‘Meanjin’, ‘Westerly’, ‘Island’, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of fellowships from The University of Iowa, The Baltic Writing Residency, The Elizabeth Kostova...

Leanne Hall

Leanne Hallis the author of two novels for young adults: the Text Prize-winning ‘This Is Shyness’ and its sequel ‘Queen of the Night’. Leanne has had shorter pieces published in ‘Meanjin’, ‘The Age’, ‘Best Australian Stories’ and the anthology ‘Growing Up Asian In Australia’. Her work plays with the borders of reality and fantasy.

Lee Kofman

Lee Kofman isan author of four books, including the memoir 'The Dangerous Bride' (Melbourne University Press), and co-editor of 'Rebellious Daughters' (Ventura Press), an anthology of personal essays by prominent Australian memoirists. Her short works have been widely published in Australia, UK, Scotland, Israel, Canada and US, including in Best Australian Essays. Her blog was a finalist for Best Australian Blogs 2014. Her...

Karen Andrews

Karen Andrewsis an award-winning multi-form writer, author, editor, poet and publisher. Her work has appeared in journals and publications throughout the country. She is currently creative director of www.karenandrews.com.au, an established and popular parenting/personal blog and two-time finalist in the Best Australian Blog Awards. Her latest book is ‘Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and...

Kate Cuthbert

Kate Cuthbertis Managing Editor of Escape Publishing, Harlequin Australia's digital-first imprint. She is also an award-winning book reviewer and critic, a genre fiction advocate and an in-demand moderator, presenter and teacher. She is currently pursuing a PhD examining rural settings in Australian popular fiction.

Kate Mildenhall

Kate Mildenhallis a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, ‘Skylarking’ (Black Inc., 2016) was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, with her young family and is currently working on her second novel. Kate co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.

Michelle Roger

Michelle Roger is a blogger and speaker, and writes about Dysautonomia and life as a disabled woman. Her work has appeared in ‘The Victorian Writer’ and ‘Kill Your Darlings’ and online for Writers Victoria, ABC RampUp and multiple support groups. Michelle received a Write-ability Fellowship in 2014 and was a panellist at the Emerging Writers Festival in 2016 and has performed at several Writers Victoria Salons. Michelle blogs at ...

Myfanwy Jones

Myfanwy Jonesis the author of two novels: ‘The Rainy Season’, shortlisted for The Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award 2010, and ‘LEAP’, longlisted for the Voss Literary Prize and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2016. She is also co-author of the bestselling ‘Parlour Games for Modern Families’, awarded ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children 2010. She works freelance as a structural editor...

Paddy O'Reilly

Paddy O’Reillyis the author of three novels, a novella and three short story collections. Her work has won awards and been published in Australia, the UK and the USA. Her latest book is ‘Peripheral Vision’, a short story collection (UQP, 2015).

Sarah Vincent

Sarah Vincent works at Writers Victoria as their Membership Officer. She is a graduate of the scriptwriting course at The Victorian College of the Arts and of The Professional Writing and Editing program at RMIT. Her memoir, 'Death By Dim Sim' was published by Penguin Random House in March 2017.

Phillipa (PD) Martin

Phillipa ‘PD’ Martinis the author of five crime fiction novels published in 13 countries. Her Sophie Anderson series – ‘Body Count’, ‘The Murderers’ Club’, ‘Fan Mail’, ‘The Killing Hands’ and ‘Kiss of Death’ – met with international acclaim. In 2011 she moved into ebooks, releasing ‘Coming Home’, ‘Hell’s Fury’ and two novels for younger readers. She’s currently working on a drama with a mystery twist and studying for her PhD in Creative Writing....

Sian Prior

Dr Sian Priorhas been a writer and broadcaster for 25 years and has written for newspapers, magazines and literary journals and won awards for her short stories. She has taught non-fiction at RMIT and for writers centres around Australia. Her book ‘Shy: A memoir’ was published in 2014.

Quinn Eades

Quinn Eadesis a researcher, writer and award-winning poet. He is the author of ‘All the Beginnings: A Queer Autobiography of the Body’ and ‘Rallying’, and is currently working on a book written from the transitioning body, titled ‘Transpositions’.

Sally Rippin

Sally Rippin has over sixty books published, many of them award-winning, including the best-selling 'Billie B Brown' series, which has sold more than three million copies since first published. In 2017, she launched a new imprint with Bonnier Publishing called Sally Rippin Presents. This year, Sally released the second book in a new series called 'Polly and Buster - The Mystery of the Magic Stones'.

Steven Amsterdam

Steven Amsterdam is the author of ‘Things We Didn’t See Coming’ (Winner, The Age Book of the Year), ‘What the Family Needed’ (shortlist, Encore Prize), and most recently, ‘The Easy Way Out’, which was shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal Award and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in The Age, The Guardian, The Monthly, Heat, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, Overland, Salon, and Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also...

Terry Jaensch

Terry Jaenschis an Australian poet, director and monologist. His first book of poetry, ‘Buoy’, was shortlisted for the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Anne Elder Award. He has worked as a writer-in-community, Poetry Editor of ‘Cordite’, artist-in-residence, dramaturge, Director of the 2005 Emerging Writers’ Festival, poetry teacher and more. His latest volume of poetry is ‘Shark’.

Melanie Ostell

Melanie Ostellhas been in book publishing for twenty years – as an editor, publisher, consultant, literary agent and educator. A senior editor at Text Publishing for more than ten years, she has since worked with all the major publishers and held publisher positions at UWA Publishing in Perth and Murdoch Books in Sydney. She has led writing workshops across the country, taught at several universities and is a registered mentor with the ASA. In 2015 she founded...

Vikki Petraitis

Vikki Petraitis marks 25 years of crime writing this year with her new book ‘Inside the Law’. For the first time, she steps into her stories to give a behind-the-scenes look at the crime writer’s journey. One of Vikki’s best-known books is ‘The Frankston Murders’ about serial killer Paul Denyer’s seven-week killing spree in 1993. Vikki has a Masters degree in Education and has taught writing skills to budding authors for many years.

Sophie Cunningham

Sophie Cunninghamis a former publisher and editor. She is the author of two novels, ‘Geography’ (2004) and ‘Bird’ (2008) and two books of non-fiction: ‘Melbourne’ (2011), and ‘Warning: The Story of Cyclone Tracy’ (2014) which was shortlisted for several major literary prizes. Soon to be released is book of linked essays, ‘Tree of the Day’ (2019), and her third novel, 'This Devastating Fever’ (2020). She is an Adjunct Professor of RMIT...

Applications for Round 3 of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund will open 16 August 2018, 10am.
Named in honour of poet, novelist and short story writer Neilma Gantner (1922-2015), the travel fund recognises the unique value of travel in the development of new writing and literary careers.